


Older Sister, Younger Sister

by PontiusHermes



Series: Thicker Than Water [2]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Emily's POV, Fever, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, JJ's POV, POV First Person, Sickfic, Sickness, Sisters, Sweet, Team as Family, Thicker Than Water, bau, canonical characters, non-romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-28 18:12:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5100668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PontiusHermes/pseuds/PontiusHermes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>JJ is sick and Emily is taking care of her</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Older Sister

We're in a hotel, the whole team _sans_ Garcia, who's still back in Quantico. I mean, we're in separate rooms, or in pairs, so JJ and I are together. Which is good. We get along well together. We even moved the bedside table so that we could push the two single beds closer, like girls at a sleepover. We do our work during the day, and then in the evening we go and lie on our beds and talk, getting to know each other a bit better. Well, that's what we have been doing, but I don't think JJ feeling very well today. She's been subdued and tired-looking, and now she's gone to sleep at five in the evening. She's not even in her bed -- she's curled up on the couch, shivering a little. She doesn't stop shivering even when I heap her bed-clothes on her. Now I'm worried. Tentatively, not wanting to wake her up, I put my hand on her forehead. It's flushed and very warm.

I watch her as the evening gets older and darker and lights turn on across the road and throughout the city. Every now and then she tosses restlessly, making tiny keening noises. Eventually, when the darkness becomes inky and oppressive, I move as quietly as I can to turn on the lights. A dry _click_ and the lights spring to garish life, blanching her already pale features. She groans and sits up, awake and bothered by the brightness. I approach her gently.

"JJ? You're not feeling very well, are you?" She shakes her head and sneezes wetly. I seize a tissue box from the kitchenette counter, placing it beside her on the couch. She looks at me blearily.

"What time is it?" she asks, eyes wide, disorientated and a little fearful.

I sit next to her and put my arm around her. "About 7:30 at night. You've slept for about two and a half hours." I pause for the while it takes her to comprehend. "Do you need anything?"

She shakes her head and nestles closer. I smile.

"Do you think you should actually go to bed, Jayje?"

Voice muffled and face hidden by the blanket, she shakes her head. "Not yet, Rosaline."

I freeze, the hand stroking her back jarring to a halt. Rosaline. Her sister. Dead. JJ had told me. Committed suicide when JJ was young. What should I say?  _Sorry, Jayje. I'm not Rosaline. She's dead, remember?_ Of course not. I resume stroking her, consumed with an irrational grief. I never knew Rosaline, and yet in that moment I am devastated by her death. Devastated and angry. How could she have willingly left her beautiful little sister?

I imagine. What if I had been her older sister? I would have talked with her and read to her. I would have looked after her and stayed with her. And still today when we were both grown up we would go over to each other's houses or meet up at cafes.

She's sleeping against me now, her breaths congested but even. I sigh. Her sister is gone. I am only her colleague. And yet...


	2. Younger Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JJ is sick and Emily is there.

I have been feeling dreadful all day. Everything seems to happen a few miles away, where I can't quite understand what is going on. My back aches with a hollow throb. I rub my eyes, looking across at Emily and feeling nauseated as the lift takes us up to the hotel room we are sharing. Once inside, I lie on the couch thinking that I'll just rest for a while...

I wake up a few hours later, feeling, if possible, even worse. I can tell I have been asleep for a while, but whether it's night or morning I can't tell. She is reassuring and practical, and before long I am leaning against her on the couch, drowsy...

The night is terrible. Sleeping and waking. Nightmares and darkness. But waking, she's there. Sleeping, she's there.  
She's there.  
She's always there.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. :)
> 
> Pontius


End file.
